SURJ Boston

“We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.” -Gwendolyn Brooks

As we settle into the stride of this intense crisis, we invite you to continue to take action, to make movement habitual and stay connected across distance. We’ve got our ship in shape and hopefully continue to make the work we’re doing together easier to follow - and don’t hesitate to reach out.

Pledge Your Stimulus Check

Redistributing our stimulus checks as an act of mutual aid is grounded in an understanding of the inequitable systems we all operate within and of the value of everyone in our community, individually and collectively. No-one is expendable; we need each other, and we must support and protect each other.

💵 If you have yet to pledge your check or a donation, you can pledge here.

Fundraising team members will be reaching out to pledgers individually to check when they receive their checks and help them direct their money to MA Redistribution Fund or to individuals referred to us by our partners such as Keep It 100 for Egleston and Mass Coalition of Domestic Workers.

We also want to highlight these 3 fundraisers which are in need of funds.

• Chelsea Collaborative is supporting immigrant families in Chelsea which has been hit hard by this pandemic. Donate to support their efforts.

• Autistic People of Color Fund This fund has existed since 2018, and is inundated with requests from individuals who may not otherwise be able to access resources.

• MASWAN and SWOP-Boston are raising funds for sex workers who will not receive financial support thru stimulus or unemployment: $jlambe2 on Cash App; if you can’t do Cash App, feel free to email surjbemergencyresponse@gmail.com and we can front money for you.

SURJB COVID19 Mobilization

☎️ 📋 ✊ Action Hours

Wednesdays in April, 12-1 PM

Register here for action hours—this link is recurring, you can choose one or more sessions, and you can register again if you don’t know your schedule yet.

SURJB members will guide participants through an hour of making calls, sending emails, signing up for volunteering, and signing petitions. We hope this helps combat isolation while building social solidarity!

☎️ Get Resources 2 Neighbors Phonebanks

Tuesdays, 6-8 PM: register here
Saturdays, 12-1 PM: register here

You can sign up for one or more sessions, and you can register again if you don’t know your schedule yet.

In partnership with State Rep Liz Miranda and Boston City Councillor Ricardo Arroyo, we are calling our elderly neighbors in Hyde Park, Mattapan, Dorchester, and Roxbury to see how they are doing and if possible connect them to resources. SURJB will provide a quick training and materials! We’ll let you know which list we will be focusing on for each phonebank.

🚗 Driving

Deliver groceries and supplies in Dorchester, Sundays 1-3 pm (form is a general sign up, you will get direct information after signing up).

Deliver meals to BPS students in Roxbury, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Dorchester, weekdays lunch and dinner shifts (general form, more info provided after signing up)

Deliver groceries with Solidarity Supply Distro, Mondays and Sundays (general form, more info provided after signing up)

✊ 💵 Critical Supplies

SURJB is helping to collect critical supplies for 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury and Cape Verdean Association of Boston. We're suggesting that folks drop off Tuesday before 8 PM and Friday before 8 PM. Please email back (surjbemergencyresponse@gmail.com) for porch drop off information in JP, Roxbury, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Allston/Brighton, Belmont, and Cambridge.

• toiletries
• soap
• disinfectants
• hand sanitizers
• diapers (adult and infant)
• denture accessories
• toilet paper/paper towels
• nonperishable food
• ethnically appropriate food (Vietnamese, Chinese, Caribbean, Cape Verdean)

To get connected to more ways to help out, please fill out our community offers survey (if you haven’t yet).

City Council Hearing on Proposed COVID-19 Guidelines

On April Wednesday 22nd at 2 pm, the Boston City Council will hold a hearing on proposed guidelines for ventilator distribution and ICU beds in the event of a shortage and ensuring that health inequities do not dictate medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hearing will be live streamed at Boston City Council TV and re-broadcast at a later date. Testimony may be submitted in writing or via video conference.

Neighborhood Mutual Aid Networks

✊ Neighborhoods are starting their own mutual aid systems where people can offer resources and request support. There are opportunities to volunteer, donate, and offer/request support at the links below.

• Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville
• Mutual Aid Jamaica Plain & Roxbury
  
• Mutual Aid Lower Roxbury/South End
• Mutual Aid Allston/Brighton
• Mutual Aid Cambridge
• Mutual Aid Dorchester
• Mutual Aid Brookline
  
• Mutual Aid East Boston
• How to start a network in your neighborhood!

Resources
Huge thanks to both the Asian American Resource Workshop and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice who have compiled Boston and MA specific resources in response to COVID-19. This includes everything from grassroots demands around COVID-19, how to teach an accessible online class, and local resources for supplies and support. City Life Vida Urbana has also published housing rights and resources during COVID-19.

Stand with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe!

📋 SIGN THE PETITION: PROTECT MASHPEE WAMPANOAG RESERVATION LANDS

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the very tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims in the 1600s, is at risk of losing what is left of their homelands due to a determination made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Sign the petition today: tell Congress to protect Mashpee Wampanoag reservation land!

MASHPEE WAMPANOAG SOLIDARITY TRAINING

Sunday April 19th : 5 PM-7PM. Those who register will receive a recording.  
Learn how to support the Mashpee Wampanoag as they reverse the "disestablishment" of their tribal lands.

Public Education

📋 Student Immigrant Movement Webinar and Petition
Wednesday April 22, 12-1PM
Student Immigrant Movement is asking for folks to help fight to ensure that BPS has a transparent policy around sharing student information with ICE. Folks are encouraged to attend Wednesday's webinar on Boston Public Schools Student Safety Policy Review and Q&A. You can get more information, sign, and share the SIM petition demanding a clear and fair policy.There are just over 2,000 petition signatures. Spread the word!

📋 Boston Education Justice Alliance (BEJA) is asking that folks sign a petition supporting teachers, families, and students due to a new partnership with the state, a form of receivership in the way it takes away local power. Learn more and sign the petition here: https://btu.org/ourcityourschools/. Please also share the information and encourage others to sign the petition.

The Boston Teachers Union (BTU) has helpful information on how COVID-19 is impacting Boston Public Schools (BPS). For the latest information and to learn about their Volunteer Corps, go to https://btu.org/coronavirus/

Housing Justice

✉️ Email Governor Baker today and ask him to sign the eviction moratorium bill!

On Friday, Massachusetts legislators put a strong eviction and foreclosure moratorium bill on Baker's desk. This bill, H.4647, is the product of incredible collaboration, advocacy and organizing between hundreds of organizations across the state. We've been fighting hard for many weeks to make sure that big real estate doesn't keep putting our lives at risk. Housing should be guaranteed for all. This moratorium is a critical first step - and together, we WILL win it!

Here's what to do:

1) Fill out Gov. Baker's online email form. Suggested text is below.

Dear Governor Baker,
I'm a Massachusetts resident. Please sign H.4647, the strong eviction and foreclosure moratorium, today. It's a critical first step to protecting public health and saving lives.

2) Report that you emailed by filling out this form.

☎️✉️call for hotel rooms for people experiencing homelessness now!  

The Material Aid and Advocacy Program is asking people to Call Gov. Baker and tell him people experiencing homelessness need hotel rooms now!
Phone: 617-725-4005
Email: cis@sec.state.ma.us

Teach-in and building power

Saturday 4/25, 3 PM

Join the Housing Justice Action Partnership and the Allston/Brighton Base Group for political education and virtual community building to better understand the moment we are in and to how we will keep building momentum for rent control after the state of emergency has been lifted. If interested, please RSVP. More details to come!

Eviction Help

Are you, or someone you know, worried about getting evicted? Call City Life/ Vida Urbana's hotline.

• English: 617-934-5006
• Español: 617-397-3773

Prison Abolition

✊WEEK OF ACTION #5

Building Up People Not Prisons is holding another week of action to keep up the pressure on our targets. Our officials are not acting fast enough!

Keep an eye out for Facebook live updates each day. Call scripts and contact info can be found here: tinyurl.com/maweekofaction

• Monday: Probation Department: Demand an end to issuing warrants for violations, incarceration holds, and urine screens.
• Tuesday: Parole Board: Demand people are released on presumptive parole and all clemency applicants are approved.
• Wednesday: Executive Office of Safety and Security: Demand the office to immediately release people from jails and prisons.
• Thursday: Executive Office of Health and Human Services: There needs to be housing, healthcare, and resources for everyone released from incarceration.
• Friday: Governor Baker: The governor needs to do his job and immediately #FreeThemAll.

📋 Free Raymond Gaines!

Sign this petition to demand a retrial for Raymond Gaines who was wrongfully convicted of 1st degree murder and armed robbery in 1975. He has been wrongfully imprisoned for 44 years, stolen from his family, loved ones, and community.

✊ Black & Pink Volunteer Drop In

Black and Pink’s mission is to abolish the criminal punishment system and to liberate LGBTQIA2S+ people/people living with HIV who are affected by that system, through advocacy, support, and organizing.

These drop ins welcome any kind of abolitionist energy, whether reading and entering mail into the database, writing letters, playing cards, or just chatting. Formerly incarcerated and court involved people especially encouraged to attend. Cis, straight and/or free world allies are welcome!

• Every other Wednesday, 7-9pm: Black and Pink has gone digital!

Immigration Justice

✉️ SUPPORT HUGER STRIKERS AT WYATT DETENTION CENTER

More than 60 people detained by ICE at the Wyatt Detention Center in RI have launched a hunger strike to demand release in the midst of the pandemic. Read their powerful letter and then show solidarity by emailing regional ICE officials and Wyatt’s investors- email scripts available in BIJAN’s post.

💵 Asian Community Emergency Relief Fund

Asian American Resource Workshop, along with their community partners, is raising funds to directly benefit Asian immigrants who are not otherwise eligible for public assistance and many government resources. Donate to their emergency relief fund! If you can donate over $750, there is a matching donation effort - make larger donations here.

☎️ Take (Remote) Action to Demand ICE Release All People from Detention!

In response to COVID-19, the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network calls for the following demands. Please amplify, share, and make calls to your elected officials as possible! #ReleaseThemAll

Childcare

✊ Volunteer with the Greater Boston Childcare Collective

GBCC supports local racial justice and intersectional organizing by providing free childcare during meetings, events, and actions so that caregivers and children can fully participate. We provide care for groups being led by folks most impacted by oppression and who are on the front lines of their movements. Find out more information about GBCC here and on Facebook.

The GBCC Planning Team is looking for people who want to volunteer as a carer and for those interested in volunteering as a member of the GBCC Planning Team. The Planning Team does all the behind-the-scenes work of partner relationship building, care coordinating, and future planning. As we enter our fourth year of existence, we want to grow our network, Planning Team, and sustainability. Join us if you are invested in racial justice and enjoy caring for kids!

Fill out our Volunteer Interest Form if you'd like to become a volunteer carer.

Contact Morgan at morganch93@gmail.com if you'd like to learn more about joining the GBCC Planning Team or with any questions.